Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-28
Cooperative HOUSEKEEPING
rbe Plan Put Into Practice in
Gotham Tenement House.

enXiOuslY ulscussSo '"i'h'n tn7 p"''
too or twenty years has been
:. little at heart believed in as co-opera'
rve housekeeping. And yet have seen
,bis away Utopian scheme, az it seems
~ r,ost housemothers, in full operation
,ra running to all appearances as
.mootbly "a domestic machinery need
.ork in quarter where one
xould least expect the intelligence
"a iuaugurate it or the practical sense to
oarryit through--a New York tenement
house.
.yon see.o said the little woman who
,ooE me into her confidence in the matter,
.it came round by accident ike. In the
first Mace, Iu>ed to tend the glove counter
ronnd at IS big store on Sixth avenue.
Thev Maid me 81 a week, and though dear
lnows,t was little enough, yet Jim and
mo WAS sayin' up TO get married, you
tnow. and | laid by full SIS after
ali NV wedding things was bought.
Jim. he was conductor on the
,rd avenue road, and he had mOre'n a
~W ell. everything went right with us
Till that strike came last winter. Jim, ne
went out, of course, with the rest OF 'em
he wouldn't 'av eam't OF woikin'
when the leaders sai ia n0-al d he amt had
snythIng steady t. d. since. He's down on
the wnarves handlin' freight now-had to
come 10 scaDbln' it soOner'n starve-but
NOW that strikes over there's no tellin'
now long that'll last.
1--WE came here to i've, SOS not TO pay
The rents they asked at the other place
our money was goin' fast enough,
snyhow-an' almost the first thing
! began to think about was what
awful prices I'd always been payin' for
Wings.
"Do YOU know everybody in this house
was buyin', just as I'd always bought,
ey'rything we ate by the haf pound or
tha quarter pound. When butter was
Soc. I'd he a payiE' 12c. for quarter
pound. When lard was 10c. it 'ud cost
me SC. to buy half pound. Potatoes was
about 75c. a bushel, but I'd get only two
Quarts at a time an pay .l0c. for 'em
Wen had to have eggs, I'd buy two or
three, as the case was, sometimes
only one, and they'd come bout double
rates.
Poor folks all do it herein the city. l
hardly know one that don't. If you'll go
into any grocery store yourself and stand
round a while you'll see it's just as Pve
been telin' YOU, | don't know what it's
Tor. but think it's partly that there's so
many Germans here that never bought
but for one day at time 10 home, an
partly because we don't any of US have
much money to spare at time.
Wy, all the coal come into this house
BY the pailful or the half scuttle, an a
ton come to bout what seven tons ought
to cost.
"Well, Is was telling you, thought 1t
all over long time, and by M by when
my cousin Kate came TO live in the rooms
just over Usher husband was sick an
was workin' off an on by spells-I pro-
posed to her that we should get all our
groceries together an share up on PAWN
for EN-.
Kate, she liked the plan an we got the
thing to going right away 1t helped
some. but it didn't make near the differ
ence that we'd hoped 1t would, for the
two OF US together couldn't make out TO
pay for much ct a time. We'd try our
very best to save over from one week to
another 10 buy a lot of sugar, though it
didn't make so much difference about
that, or -four or potatoes at once; and
sometimes we managed it an OF 'ner we
couldn't.
ave was just about ready to give it Up
in despair when Kate hit upon a notion
to join in. There was pretty decent lot
In the hOuse-you don't often find az quiet
splace as his in these parts-aDd l jump
ed at the idea.
1--WE talked it over first with one, then
with another. There was three or four
families here where the men worked in
factories, an others was lab0rers an
sumo worked round the wharves.
DON'T know but what they went into iL
quicker'n ricner folks might a. done,
cause, leastways, they had precious little
10 lose.
THE way we got it fixed finally, we
ranged to nave a meeting right here in
ny sittin' rom, and choose. one OF us
women treasurer. Fhey chose ma first,
an then went to the grocer, the best
one knew Of anywhere round, am got
lin 10 promise us hoardu' house
rates II we paid up right prompt all the
time.
Now we've got fairly going, we have
eVry woman that wants any groceries
put down her things on paper and bring
t3e list To me. Once a week, or sometimes
tWice, have the whole lot sent round,
aEu lhen eV'ry woman paws for her
suare before she carries of her things. I
suess we ali of US save pretty near q
lnlfG, countin' coal and all, on what we
used TO pay.
I'VE ain't tried it SO much on meat,
cause there's nobody had time to tend UP
" thlng that has 10 be bought every
nay But we're going to start in on that
u a little different way. Kate upstairs,
sues going TO get all the orders ev'ry
HOrnin' am have the man come to the
ooor to take 'em. Then if we make any
tnlng OUT OF IL, we'll give her part OF what
We save for the trouble.
bon't we quarrel over it! Well, no
we amt, yet, but we, do have
troubles. Que is the folks ID place like
.nls change 80 often. That don't bother
no" so much as IL did at first thou III. for
wen anybody comes with any idea OF
sS'lh' when she gels broken into the plan
cue pretty apt 10 like IT, am TO settle
uo"h where she can get the benefit OF it..
Ahotner thing is we found il awlully hard
w. w. the start to keep the accounts right.
tneres Where it came in handy for me to
nave oeen III store. | was sort OF rusty
=. hisl, out can make things so D ain
~" mat eV'ry woman in this whole
upuse can see at first look that amt
Sueatln' her,' ana the emphatic account
sut picked up the sheets OF brown paper
.ue nad pasted 20 gethsr into a good-siZed
.oIulne Tor her bookkeeping experiments.
"nich sat down to study and to wonder
o'er, while this tale CT tenement house
revolution went on.
buying things together amt quite all
re- We uone, though 1t all started IN that.
nose women what their husbands work
~ .ne factory don't have any c0okln' To- do
,N'Pt st mornin' and night, and they've
~ uSeh liking things to earn little money